Forget the public adulation... workhorse Murray is right to skip the SPOTY party

Andy Murray remains the PR and marketing department’s problem child while the dream pupil for any coach or fitness trainer.

When it came down to it and compromise was wafted in front of him there was only likely to be one outcome: stick at the hard work and forgo the public, if transient, adulation of a packed Leeds First Direct Arena on Sunday evening.

If his absence, announced on Tuesday, hurts his chances of winning Sports Personality of the Year — he is the current 1-20 favourite — then so be it. The truth is his personality would have been showed up as having changed, were he to have accepted the BBC’s invitation to be there in person.

Sealed with a kiss: Andy Murray kissing the trophy after winning the Wimbledon Championships

Last year: Murray was third in 2012 and was presented on a video link by boxing legend Lennox Lewis

HOW SPORTSMAIL BROKE THE STORY

His loathing of compromise with
anything involving his tennis is the obvious reason why he took the
decision, but there is probably a more human embodiment of it as well:
Rafael Nadal.

This coming
season, whose first major fixture is the Australian Open in January, he
faces the twin threat of Novak Djokovic and the Spaniard. The latter’s
presence could be particularly telling as he has been a constant problem
for the 26-year-old Scot in Grand Slams, and was either injured or out
of sorts when Murray enjoyed his most significant triumphs.

Where is Nadal? He is in wintry Prague, playing in a charity poker tournament organised by one of his sponsors.

Miami nice: Andy Murray and his team are in America training ahead of the Australian Open in January

It could never be said that the world No 1 is a slacker, but even he allows himself a bit of respite in the off season.

Not
Murray, who will be pounding the courts in the heat of Miami, trying
to ensure that he has the best possible shot at the Australian Open and
beyond.

‘I’m looking forward to linking up with the show live on the night and being part of it all,’ he said.

A
BBC spokesperson added: ‘We are disappointed that Andy cannot be in
Leeds in person but are looking forward to him joining us live on the
night via link-up.’

Miami
training has long been his routine at this time of year, building the
platform of physical and mental security that he needs in Melbourne, and
that does not come easy. Never more so than in this training block,
following lower back surgery that took place in late September, which
Murray has stated is not disc-related, as was widely thought.

Double trouble: Djokovic (left) and Nadal will provide a twin threat for Murray in Melbourne

CORAL ODDS FOR SPOTY

It
is understood that it was, in fact, a narrow nerve canal causing the
problem, and that some bone needed to be shaved off to relieve a
pressure point.

To fully recover from that will require colossal dedication.

There
has been soreness to overcome during his four weeks in Florida and he
only began playing proper practice points last week against his chosen
partners — great friend Ross Hutchins and the outstanding teenager
prospect from Yorkshire, Kyle Edmund.

It
is likely that Ivan Lendl, not known for his sentimentality, will have
sternly reminded him of this, and how much of that effort could be
negated by two 10-hour flights in quick succession across the time
zones.

Despite that, the
Wimbledon champion is said to have seriously considered his options, and
it got as far as exploring potential means of transport, including
private jets.

Training partner: Murray is preparing in Miami with good friend and doubles player Ross Hutchins (left)

To his knees: Murray collapses to the court after beating Novak Djokovic to claim the Wimbledon title

For he knows
that in the court of public opinion, particularly among those less
engaged with sport or tennis in particular, he might be inviting more
controversy here. There remain many floating voters when it comes to
Murray — not just in the SPOTY context — and a rump who will take
little persuading that this constitutes some kind of snub.

It
is also unlikely to do much for his management’s efforts to secure the
mega commercial deals that have been conspicuously absent since he
banished the ghost of Fred Perry.

Blue
chip companies may be still less inclined to beat a path to his door
when they see he is reluctant to turn up and milk the positive publicity
at what is, rightly or wrongly, this country’s highest profile annual
celebration of national sporting achievement.

It is a curious situation, for Murray is a likeable fellow behind the lugubrious front he presents in formal interviews.

Year to remember: Murray received his Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal from Prince William

On the road: Murray may not return to Britain for five months due to his schedule

Cycling to victory: Bradley Wiggins won the award in 2012 after winning the Tour de France and Olympic gold

And
what he managed on July 7 was not only a remarkable feat but,
inarguably, the highest profile happening in a year that saw plenty of
other outstanding performances. In the age of social media, him winning
Wimbledon was the most discussed topic of the year on Facebook and, in
more old-fashioned terms, simply the most watched television programme
of any kind in 2013, with nearly 18 million at the climax.

Some
time between now and Sunday night it is worth taking the 12 minutes
necessary to watch the final game again with all its agonising ebbs and
flows. How he fought off both the uncontrollable shaking of his arm and
the threat of Djokovic to survive match points and secure victory.

It
takes someone very unusual to do what Murray did. Someone who will now
work until Christmas, fly home for 24 hours, and then straight off to
the Middle East, Australia and back to America in his pursuit of Nadal
and Djokovic.

Let’s just
hope that, should it come to it, the BBC’s satellite feed rises to the
occasion and that, unlike last year with Lennox Lewis’s botched
presentation of the third-place bauble, it is all right on the night.

SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2013: THE NOMINEES... by Martin Domin

Ben Ainslie – Sailing

Not content with
winning gold medals at four consecutive Olympics, Ben Ainslie
masterminded Oracle Team USA's stunning come from behind victory over
Team New Zealand in September. Taking over as tactician from John
Kostecki, Ainslie's team fell 8-1 behind before winning nine races in a
row to clinch an unlikely victory.

Ian Bell – Cricket

In a stunning
summer of cricket for England, Bell was the standout batsman as Alastair
Cook's men won a third successive Ashes series against their Australian
rivals. The Warwickshire man scored three successive centuries,
becoming just the fourth Englishman to do so.

Hannah Cockroft –
Wheelchair athletics

The double Paralympic champion rounded off 2012 by
being awarded an MBE and she continued her fine form this year. In
July, at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, Cockroft
retained both her T34 100m and T34 200m titles.

Mo Farah – Athletics

Farah continues to stake his claim to be Britain's greatest ever
athlete. Fresh from his double gold-winning performance at the Olympics,
he broke the European 1,500m record in July, also breaking Steve Cram's
28-year-old British record in the process. He then won yet another
5,000/10,000m double at the World Championships in Moscow.

Chris Froome
– Cycling

Following on from Bradley Wiggins' performance in the Tour
de France was a tough ask for Froome but he went into cycling's premier
race as the man in form. He didn't have the help of Wiggins for the Tour
but won three stages on the way to a comfortable victory, eventually
finishing over four minutes clear of the field.

Leigh Halfpenny – Rugby
Union

There were a whole host of heroes in the British and Irish
Lions team who beat Australia 2-1 after three epic Tests but Halfpenny
was the cream of the crop. He was named player of the series and broke
the points record held by Neil Jenkins. Halfpenny also helped Wales win the
Six Nations earlier in the year.

AP McCoy – Horse Racing

Twenty one
years after winning his first race, McCoy recorded his 4,000 victory in
November to reach another landmark in an astonishing career. McCoy, who
won this award in 2010, entered the record books after riding the Jonjo
O'Neill trained Mountain Tunes, in the colours of owner JP McManus, to a
hard fought victory in the Weatherbys Novices' Hurdle at Towcester.

Andy Murray – Tennis

Murray had carried perhaps the biggest burden in
British sport for several years but the pressure was at its greatest
this year. After his successes at the London Olympics and the US Open in
2012, all eyes were on the Scot to see if he could break the Wimbledon
hoodoo. He ended the 77-year wait for a British male
champion, beating Novak Djokovic in the straight sets in the final.

Christine Ohuruogu – Athletics

Ohuruogu missed out on gold at the
Olympics last year but showed that she retains the ability to perform on
the biggest of occasions. Six years after striking gold at the World
Championships, she did so again, pipping Amantle Montsho in a dramatic
photo finish and breaking Kathy Cook's long-standing British record.

Justin Rose - Golf

It was 1998 when Rose burst on to the scene,
finishing tied-fourth at The Open, but he had to wait 15 years to win
his first major tournament. In triumphing at the US Open at Merion
Golf Club by two strokes over Phil Mickelson and Jason Day, he became
the first Englishman in 43 years to win the event.